SINGAPORE MUTINY.

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume XLV, Issue XLV, 16 April 1915, Page 1

SINGAPORE MUTINY.

SHIP CAPTAIN'S STORY. A message from Fremantle to Sydney ' Telegraph' runs thus Captain W. J. Dalgleish, master of tlhe steamer Oharon, from Singapore, when discussing the recent uprising of native troops in Singapore,'stated that the whole trouble was caused by the plentiful distribution among the natives of German

gold, sent from an Eastern city. When some of the dead insurgents were picked up after tihe fight, considerable sums of money were found on them. White officers, who were shot by natives under them, explained the captain, had been aware for some days that something untoward was happening, and they warned the colonel. On the very day that the natives had selected for the mutiny, the colonel ordered that ammunition should be removed from the troop square. This order was carried into effect at 3.30 o'clock in the afternoon. " I arrived at Singapore seven days after the trouble," pursued the captain, "but my information is quite reliable. The natives had chosen 8 o'clock in the evening as the hour of their mutiny. They did this for the rear son that everyone is at dinner at this time. Well, the crisis was brought about at 3.30 in the afternoon of the eventful day, by the attempt of the white officers of the regiment to remove all the ammunition to Singapore. " When the insurgents realised this, they rushed the ammunition waggons, and the

fighting and killing commenced in real earnest. Many of the mutineers were already well supplied with ammunition, as much as 300 rounds having been discovered on the men. It was during the attack on the ammunition waggons that most of the white officers were killed. ' It must be said to the credit of the Pathans that they dad not take part in the . mutiny when the fighting commenced. The greater majority of the Malay Straits guides also stood up against the mutineers. I3y this time the whole town was alarmed. iS'ome of the mutineers succeeded in getting to the camp where the German prisoners were. They cut the barbed wire entanglements, and cried out to the German prisoners : ' Come and lead us,' but the latter were quite canny. Instead of leading the mutiny, they slunk out into the back country. Unhappily for the mutineers, the British sloop of war happened to (be lying alongside the wharf, and some handy men, together with two machine guns, landed, and made towards the advancing mutineers. They met them at the bridge at Keppel Harbor, and finally dispersed them. " The trouble was that armed natives were advancing along a road which was at that hour, and is always, frequented by women and children, who like to take a walk in the comparative cool of the afternoon. For this reason the sailors could not use their machine gun, as they were afraid of hitting non-combatants. However, .the handy men did wonderful execution with their guns. One sailor killed no less than 46 mutineers. "In the meantime," continued Captain Dalgleish, "nearly every man in Singapore had been armed. Women and children were hurried away to places of

safety. Even the Chinese were given arms. The fighting proper was finished by the following moriTing, and the insurgents were completely beaten. As showing the wonderful system of concentration, it must be mentioned that two Japanese cruisers, French warships, and a Russian troopship were brought into Singapore at quick notice. Three of the German prisoners, who were liberated from prison at Singapore by the mutineers, were .saiilors who originally belonged to the Emden. What was -the state of Singapore when we left? Well, with 'the exception of about 50 mutineers, who are still hiding in tihe jungle at the back of Singapore, the whole of. the insurgents had been placed under arrest. Two of, them have been shot, and the British have sent for three native princes to try the rest of 'them. This was a very wise step. Every man in Singapore is now practically armed, although the safe areas are extending every day. Motor 1 cars parade the outskirts systematically all day, and the Territorials, a fine well-set-up body of men, <■ have arrived there to keep order. Singapore is once again its normal self, and this, too, despite the desperate attempt of the Germans in Si am to bribe the native troops."